Sen. Cruz Stands Alone In Attempt To Defund Planned Parenthood And Stall Iran Nuclear Deal

You know, even though a couple of people have dropped out of the presidential race, we still have a crazy number of candidates. (Especially compared to the Democrats.)

Hopefully, we’re at the point where candidates focus more on what sets them apart instead of taking cheap shots at each other.

I like it when candidates get specific and tell us what makes them different. Cruz is really good at that. There’s a reason he’s the only politician in the race considered an “outsider.”

There seems to be a running theme in his speeches. Before announcing his intentions of running for the presidency, Cruz gave a speech at CPAC and stressed the importance of principles.

When candidates tell us they stand against Obamacare, abortion and big government, we can’t simply take their word for it. I don’t know about you, but I want proof. Evidence. I want to see that they actually did something other than blow hot air around.

Cruz is one of those guys. He isn’t all talk. He actively stands on principle, even if he’s all alone.

On Monday, he proposed an amendment that would’ve defunded Planned Parenthood for one year and stopped the Obama administration from using funds to implement parts of the Iran nuclear deal.

Cruz’s amendment would place a one-year ban on federal funding for Planned Parenthood. It would also ban the Obama administration from using funds from the short-term bill to implement the Iran nuclear deal or any “assessed contributions” to the United Nations until lawmakers receive the “side deals” between Iran and the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA).

And of course, he called out Republican leaders for being spineless fools.

“You know, President Obama has negotiated a catastrophic nuclear deal with Iran,” Cruz said. “Republican leadership goes on television all the time and rightly says this is a catastrophic deal…I would suggest that if we actually believed the words that are coming out of their mouths, then we should be willing to use any and all constitutional authorities.”

His colleagues ignored him. With the help of Sen. Mike Lee, he tried to get a voice vote, but it went nowhere

Monday is by no means the first time Cruz has scuffled with Republican leadership. He’s been vocally critical of McConnell’s decision to back a short-term spending bill that also funds Planned Parenthood instead of potentially shutting down the government.

Separately, in July, the Senate’s presiding officer ruled a push by Cruz to offer an amendment on the Iran nuclear deal to a long-term highway bill out of order because McConnell had filled the tree, blocking further amendments.

Cruz then tried to get a roll call vote on overruling the decision but couldn’t get a “sufficient second” from his Republican colleagues.

Republican leadership sucks. They’re spineless fools who care more about bending over for Democrats in the name of “compromise” than standing on principle.

As a result, Cruz gave a speech and slammed Republican leadership.  It’s pretty long. I’ve only watched a few parts, but I hear the entire thing is fantastic.

h/t Right Scoop